Gather: A New Bi-Annual Themed Food Journal Focused on Recipes

There have been a number of independent food + lifestyle journals to hit stands in recent years—Kinfolk, Wilder, Lucky Peach, to name just a few. The newest journal to enter the fray is Gather, a "recipe-driven food publication devoted not just to cooking and eating, but to what those acts inspire: the bringing of people together." Each issue will focus on a theme ("Float" is the inaugural theme) and be divided into chapters—"much like a meal," they say, with "amuse bouches, starters, mains, and desserts."

I'm most intrigued by the focus on a theme for each issue. "Float" may seem like an unusual theme, but it makes sense once you understand it: As they say:

From floating in salty ocean water with the sun beating down on our bellies, to meals so fresh and bright they have a certain buoyancy about them, it's a word that evokes pure summer. And we loved the challenge of dreaming up recipes that would conjure those very same feelings.

Read more about Gather and see their full list of contributors and photographers here. And, like food and music lovers after my own heart, they've also created two specialty playlists for "a dream summer dinner party." Yes please! I'm looking forward to seeing what they do next.